LCDSirReal

LCDSirReal, also known as SirReal’s multipurpose G15 plugin, is a small applet for the Logitech G13/G15 gaming keyboards. Unlike many other plugins, it’s very small and fast, and doesn’t require anything else except the TeamSpeak2 DLL (which is included). If you don’t use TeamSpeak 2, you can even delete the file TSRemote.DLL. Whether you are a gamer or just like to keep tabs on what your computer is doing, this is the applet to use.

This plugin will also work on the G19, but it’ll be in black and white – a better option would be LCDHost.

You’ll want to review the contents of lcdsirreal.txt, the configuration file. Double-click it to open it in a text editor such as notepad. LCDSirReal looks for it’s configuration files where the executable is, or in My Documents\LCDSirReal. It will also write it’s log files there.

Each of the G15 soft buttons corresponds to one ‘slot’ in the plugin where you can select which ‘module’ to show. You can have more than one module listed for a slot, and the first one to have anything to show will be used. You can force switch between modules using CTRL+softbutton.

If the G15 keyboard isn’t available or is unresponsive, LCDSirReal shows a small window with it’s display in it. Closing the window terminates LCDSirReal. Clicking on the slots simulates softbutton presses. Hold down mouse button on a slot to do a long-click. Right click to cycle a slot’s contents (like CTRL-softbutton does).

Vista Notes: When running under Windows Vista, LCDSirReal does not require Administrative privileges unless you want to use the speaker switching.

You can also register using Moneybookers. You’ll find those buttons at the end of this article.

The program has a nag box that requires a registration code to remove. The nag box always appears in the leftmost slot, and appears more often the longer LCDSirReal has been running. If you don’t need all four slots, there’s no functionality lost – just use the other three slots and let the leftmost one show the nag. Nothing else is limited except that leftmost slot. If you like, you can download an older version that doesn’t have the nag box, but is unsupported.

If you register you will get a donor code, (called that since donations where possible before the nag box), which removes the nag box. This will be sent automatically by email from johan (at) linkdata (dot) se, so make sure you have my email in the permitted senders list, or the mail may end up in the spam filters. If you haven’t received the code after 24 hours, send me an e-mail or post in the forum so I can check it manually.

Features:

Customizable display of weekday, date and time.

Shows number of unread mails as icons, if your mail client supports it

Displays CPU usage (average load on top, details in CPU module).

Shows the memory load.

Shows inbound (top) and outbound (bottom) network traffic volume

Shows network inbound/outbound network load over the last ten seconds, and/or total data sent and received.

World clock with daylight savings support and user selectable time zones

Speaker switcher, switch between (for example) 5.1 and headphones with a click

Displays sound volume and audio output mute status

Stopwatch with lap time (click to start/lap, long-click to reset/stop)

Detects unresponsive programs and allows you to kill them

TeamSpeak2/3 integration: Shows who is talking, player count (channel with large font, server with small font), arriving and leaving players, mic mute status, self speaking status, channel changes. Click to mute/unmute mic. Long-click to show who’s in the active channel.

WinAMP integration: Shows new song name when song changes. Shows remaining play time and average bitrate. Click to re-display current song.

Can run without the Logitech software on G13/G15 hardware (untested on G510).

Modules:

CLK World clock with daylight savings time support and many time zones. Click to switch time zone.

STW Stopwatch. Click to start/lap. Long-click to stop/reset. (Can also work without laptimes, see lcdsirreal.txt for details.) If you’re a WoW gamer, good for timing respawns.

SPK Speaker switcher. Click to switch between two audio settings, for example 5.1 and headphones.

NET Net history. Shows the last few seconds network load (in or out) or the total amount of data passed. Click to change display mode.

AMP WinAMP integration. Shows average bitrate and time remaining. Click to re-display current song title. Long-click to toggle constant title display on/off.

TS2 TeamSpeak2 integration. Shows number of players on server (small font) and in the current channel (large font). Shows mic status (mute, idle, speaking). Shows who is talking, players entering and leaving the server and more. Click to mute/unmute mic. Long-click to show who’s in the current channel.

TS3 TeamSpeak3 integration. Shows number of players on server (small font) and in the current channel (large font). Shows mic status (mute, idle, speaking). Shows who is talking. Click to mute/unmute mic. Long-click to show who’s in the current channel.

FPS FRAPS integration. Shows the current FPS, if it is nonzero. Note that FRAPS must be minimized or it won’t provide FPS counts. You also need to have a game running, or there won’t be a FPS count to show.

COR CoreTemp integration: Shows the highest core temperature and the average core temperature.

GPU GPU-Z integration: Shows sensor values from GPU-Z. Needs the ‘Continue refreshing this screen…’ option to be checked on the Sensors tab of GPU-Z.

Known problems:

Some G15 keyboards are sensitive to ESD (electrostatic discharges). Should the LCD display go blank and the LCD buttons become unresponsive, try stopping LCDMon.exe, the Logitech LCD monitor application (you can use CTRL+mediastopbutton to do this). LCDSirReal will detect that it’s no longer running and start it again. Remove peripherals connected to the keyboard’s USB ports. Consider contacting Logitech for a replacement keyboard.

The unread mail indicator (both in LCDSirReal and Logitech’s bundled plugin) may show an incorrect number of unread mails. This is a problem with the mail client. Microsoft Outlook is known to be very buggy. Try Mozilla Thunderbird. Also, see this link.

The TeamSpeak2 application can under stress break down with regard to it’s IPC (interprocess communications) system. If this happens, LCDSirReal will show ‘WAIT’ in the TS2 slot. LCDSirReal will keep trying to reconnect indefinately. To fix it immediately, restart the TeamSpeak2 application.

It should be noted that none of the above problems are caused by LCDSirReal; I’m just tired of answering questions regarding these issues in forums.

It may or may not work on Windows 2000 and below. Note that the Logitech G15 software itself lists Windows XP as a requirement.

Before reporting a problem:

Make sure you are running Logitech’s latest drivers. Hint: The “Update” button they provide doesn’t work. Check their website.

Include the contents of the system.txt file in your problem report. Look for this file in My Documents\LCDSirReal.

Include the last few lines of the errors.txt file in your problem report. Look for this file in My Documents\LCDSirReal.

Old (pre-Unicode) font

If you don’t need Unicode support for the small font, and if you preferred the old pre-2.7 small font, you can download and install it as you would any other font, and then edit lcdsirreal.txt to use it. It’s name is Double Oh One, and can be downloaded from several free sites. Google it: http://www.google.se/search?q=+font+Double+Oh+One. Once installed, change small_font_name to DoubleOhOne and you should see the change immediately.

About the NAG box:

From version 2.7.0 forwards, LCDSirReal has a nag box. If you register, you’ll receive a code to disable the nag box. The nag box always appears in the leftmost slot. It appears more frequently the longer you leave LCDSirReal running. After 10 hours of runtime, the nag box will be shown constantly. Restarting LCDSirReal resets this timer. Clicking the nag box button shows a donation text. Long-clicking opens the LCDSirReal home page.